HalcyonDaze comments

That is not love.

I'll second that. But very sad though for both of them.

He was probably undercover just "sniffing around" for clues...

@Apsara

Yes, obviously. I was being ironic.

And all that from a bra - incredible!

Here comes the lynch mob again... (who of course have never been guilty of taking their eyes off their own kids for one minute)

@smartacus

That's a fair point but I don't think it's realistic to expect every minister to be an expert in his/her particular portfolio. Rather, the issue is having ministers who have the nous and leadership skills to lay down the policy direction and who can get the bureaucracy to work with them in implementing that. If it means firing or reshuffling some recalcitrant senior bureaucrats in the process then so be it.

People in Japan are living in parks and this priviledged class moron is touting the glories of expensive dog clothing

Good point, but this line doesn't look very expensive compared to a lot of the stuff that's on offer in Japan's pet boutiques (eg $1,000 Bulgari collars etc).

When police arrived, he was sitting in his truck in the parking lot of the convenience store.

... probably with his pants down.

Four more sickly reasons for hundreds of Japanese doughnut lovers to queue up for hours on Shinjuku's Southern Terrace every day...

Good to see that doggy style is still as popular as ever with Japanese women...

The wife of a PM is not a first lady. Mrs. Brown is not Britain's first lady; that's a silly thing to say.

Eh? According to Oxford English Dictionary a "first lady" is "the wife of the President of the US or other head of state". The BBC has no problem describing Mrs Brown as Britain's first lady.

Women can't be even heard peeing, but it's perfectly OK to build facilities for men so you have to pee in the full view of any passers-by while the cleaning lady is busy with the next urinal while you're trying to shake off the last drops.

That's always amazed me too. I think it's a case of selective blindness...

Trips to Venus? Maybe that's where she found the "alien"?

At least she has a sense of humour which will probably come in handy during the days ahead. Good for her!

She certainly has "great things" ahead of her...

Could be embarrassing if it accidentally goes off in someone's LV handbag on a crowded train... (might "flush out" any would be gropers though :-))

Does it have a "turbo" button to mask the sound of No. 2's as well???

The self-righteous and uncompassionate attitude of some of the posters on this site is almost as shocking as the "crimes" they are so quick to condemn.

"And today's picture is proudly sponsored by our friends at Uniglo..."

Not bad pegs though - they go all the way down to the ground.

So he rips off the name from an old Italian movie and changes the spelling to make it look original. Some great "stroke" of artistry.

Sounds like a Stoopid Basterd to me...

I agree that Roppongi is probably more dangerous, for Westerners at least. I've occassionally wandered around by myself late at night in Kabukicho, Nanba and other traditional red-light districts and I was mostly ignored more than anything.

To me the issue is that in Japan a person's racial background is even an issue at all. Regardless of which label is used, the fact that many Japanese people still find it necessary to attach a label to someone who looks different to them does reflect their racist attitude. It's usually not intended as a mere descriptive term but as an exclusivist label used to bolster their own fragile sense of identity based on their concept of being "pure Japanese". In other words "I am in the club but you are NOT (and that makes me feel a whole lot better)" .

What hasn’t been publicized is the “sister” who was a frequent visitor at both locations.

It hasn't been publicized for good reason - because it's just malicious, mud-raking gossip. It's curious that almost as a postscript the writer admits that the story has been denied by the person involved. But even if it were true, so what?

It's all Greek to me but for the Hellenically challenged and those who couldn't be bothered Googling it:

"ένα γραμμάριο πρόληψης είναι καλύτερο από ένα κιλό της θεραπείας"

= "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure".

Yeah, interesting post Samlee, but while the names may suggest some Jewish Christian influence it seems a bit of a leap to attribute that to some ancient Wise Men from the East. Is there any hard evidence for that?

Also, if the graves have been protected from generation to generation then it begs the question as to how long ago that area was settled by the Japanese?

To me it seems more likely that it's just the legacy of some stray believers in the Edo period. However, it would be interesting to somehow date those graves in Shingo.

Aomori city is a little on the shabby side but Hirosaki is very pretty and Aomori prefecture on the whole is a great place! Plenty of nice scenery and some of the most interesting culture in Japan.

You must checjk your fact before you make an assertion -

Sorry, my mistake - I guess Tacitus must have been talking about another Christ who was executed by Pontius Pilate and had a following of people who called themselves "Christians"... Anyway, this isn't the place for an academic debate so whatever you think dude! Besides, how could I argue with a "J-Mann-God". You're probably one of his Japanese descendents!

the work of Tacitus does NOT refer to jesus. It is also quite disputed.

Oh, really? Here's the text from Tacitus:

"Christus, the founder of the name [Christian], had undergone the death penalty in the reign of Tiberius, by sentence of the procurator Pontius Pilatus, and the pernicious superstition was checked for a moment, only to break out once more, not merely in Judaea..." (Annals 15:44)

JmannGod: If this "Christus" doesn't refer to Jesus Christ then to whom does it refer? You say it's "quite disputed" - if so, by whom? In what way?

I'm NOT defending Christianity per se but it's one thing to dispute the claims of Christianity and quite another thing to say that the historical Jesus never existed. Perhaps you are not really aware of the facts but the fact is that the overwhelming weight of historical scholarship (both Christian and non-Christian) is against your opinion.

People can't even confirm Jesus lived...

Few historians would deny the actual existence of Christ, especially since the Roman historian Tacitus refers to his execution and the "mischievous superstition" (Christianity) which developed afterwards.

Leaving aside the other fascinating questions, the idea that Jesus had a brother is actually not so far fetched. There are several references in the Gospels to Jesus' brothers and sisters and many mainstream Christians accept the fact that Mary and Joseph went on to have a regular family. However Catholics and others who like to believe in Mary's perpetual virginity tend to interpret things differently...